Questions and variables

Questions make up the bones of a survey. Some store free text, while others have a pre-defined set of options. The majority of questions are visible to respondents, while others are hidden. Hidden questions are usually called variables; they may store data for reporting purposes, or they might perform a logical function to make a survey act as desired. All questions and variables defined within survey source code are represented within the survey data set.

Question IDs

All questions have an ID or label, usually referred to as the question number (or label). A question label is the unique identifier which is used as its reference within the survey source code, and also how that field is identified within the survey data. Usually, these are numbers or combinations of numbers and letters. No two questions may share the same ID/label, and all letters used to define a question ID will be rendered in uppercase. If you attempt to compile survey source code with two identical question IDs, the compile will fail.

All question labels will, by default, have a leading 'Q' appended to them. This Q, a mnemonic for "question," must be used when referencing the question in programming, and it will appear in all references within the survey data and reporting tools.

Question types

IntelliSurvey contains several different default question types that can be included in a survey. The types come in two categories:

• Open-ended questions typically use text fields or text boxes (longer text fields) to collect input that is typed in.
• Closed-ended questions have the most variety and use items such as radio (single-select) buttons, checkboxes (multi-select), dropdown menus, and even sliders, to name a few.

Most question types can be used with tables – e.g., type: radio table (single selection per question-row) or type: checkbox table (multi-select per question-row). For more on how to create tables, see Simple tables.

Question example

1. Which do you prefer?
type: radio
1. Apples
2. Oranges

In the above code snippet, the question label is 'Q1'. It is separated by a period from the question text, which immediately follows. A type tag defines the question type, of which there are several varieties, such as radio (single selection), checkbox (multi-select), or text (short text input). Finally, the options for this question are defined after the type tag. The IDs for each option are separated by a period from the option text.

Question tags

Questions are widgets within IntelliSurvey. Being widgets, there are a number of tags which can be associated with them. Some are universally applicable to all questions, and some apply specifically to a particular question type. Tags define certain parameters about the question widget, including the type of question it is, and what the options are. There are numerous other tags that exist to help fine tune the question to nearly any type of specification. 

1. Which do you prefer?
type: radio
randomize: y
desc: Apples or Oranges 
1. Apples
2. Oranges

In the above example, there are three different tags – type, randomize, and desc. The randomize tag is randomizing the options for this question, and the desc tag provides an alternate description for the Reports. For more information about tags, see the pages describing commonly used tags for each question type.